COVID 19: Disruptive impacts and transformative opportunities in undergraduate nurse education

The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures to mitigate its spread have provoked widespread societal disruption with recursive impacts within higher educational institutions and practice learning environments readily apparent. The forced rapid closure of face to face teaching has catapulted academic staff and students into what is for many, unfamiliar terrain. Challenges in managing such rapid change in educational provision have been influenced by prevailing institutional attitudes towards e-learning and pedagogy, existing IT infrastructure, availability of learning technology support, staff digital literacy and redeployment of clinical academics. Similarly, students have been compelled to adapt to a wholesale shift to on-line educational delivery. Some students will readily embrace this shift to e-learning, valuing its flexibility in geographical location and time, whereas others will experience discomfort because of their limited digital literacy or absence of physical human engagement and camaraderie.